Hurricane Dorian Strengthens to Category 4 as It Heads for Florida and Atlantic Coast. Here ’s the Latest Track and Forecast

Hurricane Dorian has been upgraded to a Category 4 storm as it barrels toward the Bahamas and Florida’s Atlantic coast, according to the latest forecast from the National Hurricane Center. The hurricane gained strength Saturday, with maximum sustained winds of 150 mph, as it moved about 260 miles east of the northwestern Bahamas and 415 miles east of West Palm Beach, Fla. as of 11 a.m. Saturday. Category 4 hurricanes typically cause “catastrophic” damage, lengthy power outages and involve a high risk of injury or death to people, livestock and pets from flying and falling debris. Forecasters predict the hurricane will get even stronger. “Dorian is anticipated to remain an extremely dangerous major hurricane while it moves near the northwestern Bahamas and approaches the Florida peninsula into early next week,” according to the National Hurricane Center. Officials and forecasters are urging caution, even as the hurricane’s projected path appears to have shifted west and north and now appears to just skim Florida’s coast late Monday or early Tuesday. Dorian is now projected to travel past Georgia, South Carolina and even North Carolina mid-week. Earlier projections had suggested Dorian would make its way more inland to Florida and hit the state over Labor Day weekend. “It’s going to be pretty scary because you’re going to have this gigantic hurricane sitting off the coast of Florida,” meteorologist Ryan Maue t...
Source: TIME: Science - Category: Science Authors: Tags: Uncategorized Florida onetime Puerto Rico weather Source Type: news